


Fitting in and Standing Out

by Sand_wolf579



Series: Will of Our Own [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Ableism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Autistic Nico di Angelo, Creative License, Family Issues, Gen, Pre-Relationship, Protective Siblings, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-27 00:07:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30114123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sand_wolf579/pseuds/Sand_wolf579
Summary: Bianca and Nico struggle to adapt to life at camp
Relationships: Bianca di Angelo & Nico di Angelo, Bianca di Angelo & Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo & Will Solace
Series: Will of Our Own [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2196123
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclosure here, this story is going to completely ignore the whole 'Bianca and Nico got their memories erased' thing. Their timeline is just so confusing and difficult to keep straight.
> 
> Usually when I write stories I try to stay as true to the rules of canon as I can, but it got overwhelming with this. I want to be able to write about these kids going to camp and struggling to adjust to everything without panicking every five seconds about whether or not they would have memory of such-and-such a thing.
> 
> Besides, I absolutely live for Italian di Angelo siblings, and I want to play with that, which would be harder to do if they don't remember living in Italy

Bianca hated camp. It was a little hard to narrow down just why she didn't like it. Almost everything about it seemed to rub her the wrong way. From the second that the young man, Luke, had brought her and her brother to camp she had known that she wouldn't enjoy her time here.

Everybody was just as obsessed with Greek mythology as Nico was, though they all insisted it wasn't really mythology, but the reality of their world. Bianca still didn't quite believe it. Even though she saw satyrs, nymphs, and all kinds of magic at camp, it was so hard to just accept that not only were the gods real, but her father was supposedly one of them.

Bianca didn't know who her father was, but she didn't really care. She'd never cared much about the man. She had vague memories of him from when they had first moved to America, and she remembered his aura when he'd been around for a little bit just before Nico had been born. Bianca mostly just remembered her father's aura because Nico reminded her a lot of it, especially when he got mad and threw a temper tantrum.

When Bianca was younger she had been resentful that she didn't have a dad around like so many other kids did, but as she got older she grew out of it. She'd had her mom, and she had her brother. That was all the family she ever needed. If her dad showed up, fine. If she never saw him again, that was fine too.

As much as she didn't care about her father, it seemed to be all that everybody at camp cared about. She'd only been at camp for a week and she'd already been asked a dozen times if she had any idea who her dad was. She was getting tired of all the questions. She and Nico weren't the only ones who hadn't been claimed, but she seemed to be the only one that the campers so blatantly asked.

Bianca tried to be patient with all the interrogation. She gave the other campers as much information as she knew, but after she mentioned that she thought that Nico reminded her of their father everybody started questioning her about her brother. Bianca had barely tolerated questions about their father, but she drew the line when they tried to drag Nico into it.

"I don't know who my dad is, and I don't care." Bianca snapped at the girl from the Apollo cabin who was her latest interrogator. "But don't you dare drag my brother into this. If you really wanted to get to know Nico, you could have befriended him yourself, but now if I see you anywhere near him I will rip your hair out."

"Hey, hey, why don't we just calm down?" Travis, who was one of the few campers that Bianca tolerated, grabbed Bianca's arm and gently pulled her back. "Come on, Bianca." She very reluctantly let him drag her away from the crowd. "Don't worry about them. Some people get antsy during the last few weeks of camp, so they latch onto any bit of excitement that shows up."

Bianca crossed her arms and pouted slightly. "Trust me, if I didn't have to be here I wouldn't." Bianca had not been happy when she'd been told that Luke was hers and Nico's new guardian. She'd been even less happy when the first thing that Luke did was take them to this summer camp, even though it was almost August and the camp would be ending the summer session soon anyways.

There were only two reasons why Bianca was giving the camp even a small chance. First, Luke had told them that once summer ended at camp she and Nico wouldn't have to stay there anymore. If they wanted they could choose to stay at his small apartment with him and go to school, or they could stay at camp during the rest of the year, which Bianca doubted she would do.

The second reason she gave camp a try was because of Nico. He'd always had an even harder time making friends than Bianca did, and being at a simple camp, always in the outdoors, it might do him some good.

Besides, while they were at camp they would have camp counselors whose job it was to keep an eye on Nico. For once Bianca could relax and take her eyes off her brother for more than five minutes.

"Camp's not so bad," Travis said. "You'll come to love it. Everybody does." Bianca wasn't so sure. She had never been very much like everybody else. "And the other campers will soon find something else to focus on."

"Why do they care so much about who my dad is anyways?" Bianca crossed her arms.

"Luke told me and Connor that a lot of half-bloods are worried that you have the same godly parent as they do." Travis said. "It's not all that common for gods to have multiple kids with the same mortal. Gods rarely pay any attention to their demigod kids, so it's easy for us to get jealous when anybody gets more attention than we do, but especially if that somebody is our half sibling. If your dad returned to your mom, even if it was just for a bit, you would have gotten more attention from him than most demigods get from their godly parents."

"Yeah, when I was two." Bianca was even more annoyed than before. In fact, she'd been even younger than that when her dad would have been around.

"Don't let them get to you." Travis said. "Come on, let's go rejoin the others." Bianca scowled. She'd wandered away for a reason. The other kids at the Hermes cabin were pretty decent. If Bianca was forced to spend time with anybody, at least these guys were tolerable. However, Bianca didn't like being around so many people, and she didn't really enjoy most of the activities that they did. She would much rather spend time with herself than work on sword fighting.

Bianca was disappointed but not surprised when Travis led her to the sword fighting arena. She really wished that she could enjoy this. The sword fighting itself was fun enough, but Bianca hated how competitive all the guys seemed to be.

Bianca was used to seeing guys acting like idiots and trying to show each other up, even if they didn't have the skills to back up their confidence. It was bad enough when the guys were doing it with basketballs, but here at Camp Half-Blood somebody seemed to think it was a good idea to give everybody a sharp sword. It was a miracle that nobody had poked somebody's eyes out yet.

When they got to the arena Bianca was alarmed to see Nico sitting on the ground, a large cut on his head. There was an alarming amount of blood. "Fratellino!" Bianca ran towards her brother. She pushed aside the boy who was sitting next to her brother, not caring who he was or what he was doing there. Her attention was just on her brother. She knelt in front of him and brushed his hair away from the cut.

"Ow!" Nico flinched and pushed her hand away. "That hurts." Nico practically whined, and Bianca relaxed. If Nico was whining instead of crying or screaming, maybe the pain wasn't too bad.

Bianca glared at Connor, who was looking a little sheepish. "What happened and who did this?" She was going to absolutely destroy whichever idiot thought that proving he was tougher than a nine-year old was a good idea.

"It was an accident." Connor said quickly. "Some of us were sparring, and we didn't notice Nico behind us."

Bianca wanted to be absolutely furious, as Connor was one of the counselors for the Hermes cabin. It was his job to be aware of any potential danger that the other kids might be in. However, she couldn't bring herself to completely blame him. She knew her brother, and she knew that he was a natural at something that she tried really hard to do. Nico could blend in with every little shadow out there and he was frequently overlooked and unnoticed.

Bianca glared at her brother and whacked his arm slightly. "What were you thinking?"

"I wanted to get a closer look at the swords," Nico said. His eyes brightened excitedly like they frequently did when he got really into things. Bianca sighed in annoyance. Only her brother would care more about his obsession with ancient Greece than his badly bleeding head.

"Scemo," Bianca scowled. She didn't know whether she was more concerned that her brother was hurt or annoyed that he'd done something so stupid. "Why aren't you getting that taken care of?"

"We were going to." Connor said with a frown. "I sent Chris to find an Apollo kid who could handle the healing. I was going to take Nico to meet them at first-aid as soon as Travis got back." Bianca stiffened and shrunk in on herself slightly. She understood why Connor had been waiting for his brother, as he couldn't exactly leave the other kids unsupervised. Travis had only been absent because he'd gone after Bianca. If she hadn't wandered off they could have already gotten Nico to first-aid.

"I'll take him." Bianca volunteered. Nico was her little brother, her responsibility. Still, she couldn't help but be a little disappointed. Luke had assured her that other kids could keep an eye on Nico, finally giving her a chance to relax, but she'd yet to see any of that. She was still the one who watched him all the time.

"I don't think so." Travis teased. "I didn't go out of my way to find you just to let you sneak away from classes again. You need to know how to sword fight just as much as the rest of us." Bianca didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved. She didn't want to swordfight, but she also didn't want to constantly babysit her little brother. It would be nice to get a small break from Nico.

"I'll take him," Connor volunteered. He looked guilty about letting Nico get hurt on his watch. Bianca reluctantly stepped aside to let Connor hold a hand out to help Nico up. Her little brother completely ignored Connor's hand and stood up on his own. Nico staggered slightly, but flinched back when Connor tried to steady him.

"I can do it myself," Nico said. Connor raised a dubious eyebrow, but he nodded and gave Nico a little bit of space. Connor led Nico out of the arena and towards first-aid.

"Your brother will be fine," Travis said. "Just worry about yourself right now." That was a lot easier said than done. Bianca had been taking care of her brother since their mom had died, and even before then she'd always been helping her mom keep an eye on him. Nico needed a lot of attention and care, though he claimed otherwise. Bianca didn't think she knew how to worry about herself instead of her brother.

"I'm not quite sure what to do." Bianca said.

"Well, first you need a sword." Travis said. He looked towards the boy that Bianca had pushed aside to get to her brother. "Percy, you mind taking Bianca to the armory and helping her find a sword? Maybe then you can get her started on the basics."

"Sure," The boy, who looked a little older than Bianca, stood up. He gave her an easy smile. "Come on,"

Bianca blinked and numbly followed him out of the arena. It took her a long moment to really process who this boy must be. " _You're_ Percy? Percy Jackson?"

The boy, Percy, paused for just a moment and gave her a cautious look. "Yeah. Why do you want to know?"

Bianca felt like a weight had been taken off her shoulders. "I have something for you." Bianca took Percy's arm and pulled him in the direction of the cabins. She let herself into the Hermes cabin, ignoring Percy's questions and small protests. They would only have to be there for a moment while Bianca grabbed what she needed.

She usually kept her things really organized, but she and Nico were sharing a space where they put their personal belongings, and her brother's things got absolutely everywhere. Bianca scowled in annoyance as she had to push aside Nico's Mythomagic cards just to find her things.

While she searched Percy seemed to move on from asking what she was up to. Instead he sat on one of the beds and watched her search.

"So...how are you liking camp so far?" Percy asked awkwardly. Bianca shot him an annoyed glance. She hated it when people felt the need to fill the silence. Nico could be the same way sometimes. Why couldn't people just learn how to be comfortable with being quiet for five minutes instead of forcing everybody else into needless smalltalk?

"I don't." Bianca said simply. She expected Percy to start the familiar lecture about how she'll eventually come to love camp. He just laughed.

"Yeah, I get that," Percy said. "Let me guess, the campers aren't the best at rolling out the old welcoming mat?"

"They're horrible," Bianca said. She hated when people involved themselves in her business. It was why she tried to avoid bringing attention to herself. She had even worked really hard to hide her accent, though it came out sometimes when she was upset. Of course, Nico didn't understand the concept of hiding his Italian accent, so when kids heard him speak they usually knew that he, as well as Bianca, weren't originally from America.

Nobody at Camp Half-Blood had mentioned anything about Bianca or Nico's accents yet, but she was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. It always came up sooner or later.

"I was given a hard time when I first came too," Percy said. "It didn't really do any favors to get me to warm up to my dad."

Bianca scowled. She hated this obsession with the gods. She couldn't care less about whether they existed or not, but did she really have to be dragged into the middle of it? "Why did you have trouble fitting in?"

"My dad's Poseidon," Percy said. "He and his brothers, you know, Zeus and Hades, promised to not have any more demigod children, so it was kinda a big deal when I was claimed."

"That's so dumb," Bianca frowned. "It's not like you asked to be born." Bianca relaxed slightly when she found what she was looking for. She sat up and held an envelope out to Percy. "Here."

"Uh, thanks," Percy looked at the envelope curiously. "What is it?"

Bianca shrugged. She hadn't opened it. "The man who brought me and Nico to Luke told me to give it to you." She hoped that Percy didn't get mad at her for not giving it to him immediately. She'd had no idea who Percy was, and she'd felt too awkward to just go up to someone she didn't know and ask about somebody that she'd never met. If she hadn't just so happened to run into Percy she would have just given the envelope to Travis or Connor and asked them to give it to him.

Percy frowned and opened up the envelope. There was a small letter inside. Percy read it for just a few seconds before his eyes widened in surprise. Bianca was alarmed to see tears start to gather in Percy's eyes. She thought that something horrible must have happened, but then Percy sniffled and he was smiling wetly.

"I-I have to go." Percy jumped off the bed. He started to move towards the door, but Bianca grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Hang on," Bianca said. "What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Y-yeah," Percy grinned weakly. "It...it's about my mom. She's okay." Percy laughed and embraced Bianca. She stiffened and didn't relax even after he let her go. "My mom's okay!"

"That's great," Bianca adjusted her hat, partially to fix it, as it had gotten tilted when Percy had embraced her so suddenly. Her larger motivation though was that she wanted to make it hide her face a little more. She didn't like physical contact, especially not so suddenly, and certainly never from boys. It all felt far too intimate to Bianca, and certainly not something that most people deserved from her.

Still, she decided to forgive Percy just this once. He was emotional and excited about his mom, and Bianca had just been the most convenient person for him to express that emotion with. Just so long as Perc didn't do it again.

"I need to talk to Chiron," Percy said. Bianca knew that he wanted to get permission to leave camp. It usually wasn't allowed, but this was clearly a special case. Percy stopped and he seemed to wilt slightly. "But I'm supposed to help you with your sword work."

"We can do it later." Bianca said quickly. She didn't want to be the reason why Percy didn't go see his mom. Besides, she wanted to check on Nico. She didn't know if she trusted the magical healing that they did here. "Please, go. I'll be fine."

Percy looked reluctant for about a second before his face broke into a wide grin. "Thanks, Bianca. I owe you one." Bianca didn't quite agree. She hadn't appreciated it at the time, but she had noticed Percy sitting next to Nico back in the Arena. He'd been keeping an eye on her brother instead of working on his swordwork, and Bianca appreciated it. However, she wasn't about to disagree with Percy about this. If he wanted to feel indebted to her, that was his business.

"Good luck," Bianca said. Percy gave her one last smile before he ran out of the cabin and towards the Big House. Bianca knelt down in front of their things again and started to organize them. She didn't want to deal with this mess again. Nico would probably throw a fit when he saw that she was rearranging his things, as he sometimes took comfort in his chaotic mess, but Bianca would deal with that when it came up. At the moment she just wanted this mess tidied up.

She would make sure her brother was okay just as soon as she was finished cleaning up his mess.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Referenced ableism and unhealthy treatment of someone with autism (restraining and unnecessary drugging).
> 
> I headcanon Nico as autistic. He was raised in Italy in the 1930s, which wasn't a good time period for people who were neurodivergent, especially with the rise of all that was happening with World War II. Since Nico has his memories in this story, he remembers the not so good treatment he got in school, though he doesn't completely understand it.

Nico rocked slightly in his seat as he looked around. This didn't look like any first-aid area he'd ever seen, and he'd seen plenty of them while going to school. He didn't actually get hurt all that often, but his teachers and peers used to be scared of him, and he was frequently sent to the nurse's office when they thought that he was going to hurt himself or someone else.

Nico hated going to the nurse. They would always hold him down or restrain him, which was scary. Sometimes they would force him to take pills which he really didn't like. The pills made him feel and act really weird. It made him not feel like himself.

Nico's mom had cried whenever he mentioned the nurses. She had seemed so scared, and she'd made him promise to try really hard to act normal when he was at school and around others. Nico hadn't understood, and even now he didn't really know why, she'd been so insistent. His mom had said that if people thought he was different they might hurt him or send him away.

He hadn't wanted that to happen, so he did his best to follow Bianca's example and fit in. He wasn't very good at it, and his sister frequently needed to remind him of how he was supposed to act. It hurt, a little bit, to always pretend to be somebody that he wasn't, but if it meant not being taken away from his sister he would try his best.

Nico usually felt very nervous and jumpy when he wasn't around his sister. How was he supposed to know if he did something wrong if she wasn't around to point it out? He was only a little bit nervous here though. Connor hadn't tried to touch him, and he didn't tell Nico to sit still and behave himself.

In fact, Connor offered Nico a few toys to play with. He didn't accept any of them, as they all felt too hard or too soft, or they were too noisy, but Nico appreciated the gesture.

Eventually a teenage girl showed up, holding the hand of a little boy who looked about Nico's age. The girl's gaze went straight to Nico, and he ducked behind Connor. He didn't like the way that she was looking at him, like she was looking for a problem that was just waiting to be solved.

"Hi!" The other boy grinned broadly and leaned up close to Nico, who tried to lean away from him. "I'm Will." Nico frowned when Connor stepped away from him, leaving him at the mercy of this other boy. The traitor.

Nico stared longingly at Connor, silently begging him to come back, but the older boy was talking to the girl now. She seemed to be scolding him. Nico flinched when he felt a poke on his arm. He turned to stare at the other boy, Will, who was watching him expectantly.

"What?" Nico frowned.

"Hi." Will said again.

"...hi." Nico said quietly. Will's smile broadened. Nico couldn't remember the last time he had seen someone smile so sincerely at him, like they were actually happy to see him, and it felt nice. Nico shyly returned the smile.

Will watched him for a long moment. "What's your name?" Nico cringed slightly. He had forgotten that usually when people introduced themselves they expected the other person to do the same. Will didn't seem to be annoyed that Nico had missed the unspoken prompt earlier. He just looked curious.

"Nico." He said. Will beamed, though his smile dimmed slightly when he looked at Nico's head. He didn't reach out to touch the cut, which Nico appreciated.

"What happened?" Will asked.

"Sword fighting accident." Nico said. "I got too curious."

Will giggled. "I did that too when I first got to camp." Will looked towards the girl. "Do we get him ambrosia?"

The girl stepped towards Nico to get a look at the cut herself. He tried to flinch away from her, but she grabbed his head to hold him still. Her grip was gentle, but Nico felt his chest tighten in panic anyways. He almost let out a whine or a whimper, but he bit his lip to keep himself quiet. Bianca said that normal people don't make those noises when nothing really bad was happening.

Will frowned and held his hand out to Nico. He hesitated for just a moment before accepting it. Nico closed his eyes and squeezed Will's hand. Maybe if he pretended hard enough he would forget that the girl was there at all.

After what felt like forever the girl finally let go of his head. He breathed out a sigh of relief. "The cut's deep. Ambrosia won't heal it completely, but it'll stop the bleeding." The girl stepped away from Nico, and the further she was from him the more relaxed he became. "I'll go get some ambrosia. Will, stay here with the patient."

Will nodded and adjusted to sit next to Nico. He didn't have to keep holding his hand, but Will didn't let go, so neither did Nico. It felt weird to be holding the other boy's hand. It wasn't exactly a bad weird, but it would take some getting used to

"Why are you afraid of my sister?" Will asked. "She's super nice."

"She's a nurse." Nico said. "I don't like nurses. They're scary."

"She's more of a healer than a nurse." Will said. Nico didn't understand what the difference was. Will frowned ever so slightly. "Well, I'm trying to learn how to be a healer too. Do you think _I'm_ scary?"

"I don't know yet." Nico tilted his head at Will and studied him for a long moment. "I'll tell you when I know."

For some reason Will seemed to find it funny. He laughed and Nico found himself smiling slightly too. He didn't know what was funny, but Will seemed to be having fun, and his enjoyment was contagious.

A minute later Will's sister, who Nico didn't know the name of and really couldn't care less about, returned. She was holding what looked like a lemon bar in her hands. Nico stared at it suspiciously. Nurses weren't supposed to give people treats, and Nico doubted the rule was any different for healers.

The girl held out the bar. Nico didn't want to take it, but Will accepted it for him. "This is ambrosia." The girl said. "Just take a small bite from it. You'll feel better, trust me."

Nico narrowed his eyes at the girl. Will's sister hadn't done anything to earn his trust yet. He had no reason to do what she said.

"It's okay." Will said. "Look, I'll show you." Will broke a corner off the bar and nibbled on it, despite his sister's protests. Will smiled and held it out to Nico. "See? It's just fine."

Nico reluctantly took the bar, though he didn't feel ready to eat it yet. "What does it taste like?"

"It tastes different for everybody." Will said. "You'll like the taste though, I promise."

Nico was still cautious, but he took a small bite out of it. His eyes widened when he tasted his favorite biscotti that his mom used to make. It tasted yummy, but something was incredibly wrong with it. Nico grimaced as he continued to eat the bar until it was all gone. When Nico was done with it he saw the others all giving him an odd look.

"What?" Nico asked.

"I've never seen anybody who doesn't like ambrosia." Connor said. Nico shifted slightly, feeling just a little self-conscious. He hadn't even been trying to do anything weird, but he'd done it anyways.

"Sorry." Nico muttered, because that was what all his teachers had told him over and over again that he was supposed to say when he did something wrong.

"Don't be," Will said. "What did it taste like."

"Like Mamma's biscotti." Nico said. "I like it, but they're supposed to be crunchy, and that bar is really mushy."

"Oh," Will nodded in understanding. He pulled out a small notebook and wrote something in it. "Maybe we'll try nectar next time."

"I'd prefer it if there wasn't a next time." Nico grinned when he heard Bianca's voice. He turned to see his sister standing in the doorway. She gave him a small smile. It didn't look quite right, though Nico couldn't place why. He'd been seeing this look from her more and more often.

"Hi!" Nico said brightly. Bianca raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, you're in a good mood," Bianca said. She gave Connor and the older girl a suspicious look. "What did you give him?"

"A soft biscotti." Nico said.

"It's just ambrosia," Connor said. "It's perfectly safe."

Bianca didn't look completely convinced. "If you say so." She gave Nico a cautious look. He could tell that this was one of those moments when she would be keeping a close, protective eye on him. Nico didn't like when she got like this. Bianca would treat him like he was just a little kid, which was annoying, but she also seemed to be mad at him for it. Nico didn't like when his sister was mad at him, especially when he hadn't even done anything.

Bianca hummed to herself as she looked carefully at Nico's cut. "Well, it definitely looks better than earlier. I guess these guys know what they're doing." Will grinned and puffed out his chest proudly. Nico gave him a small smile.

"Aren't you supposed to be working on your sword fighting?" Connor gave Bianca a slightly disappointed look.

"Percy had something come up." Bianca said. Nico chuckled slightly. His sister was so good at finding loopholes and ways to slip out of situations. Nico had no doubt that Percy actually was busy with something else, and Bianca was just taking advantage of that.

Connor sighed and knelt in Nico. He looked from him to Bianca. "Guys, I know you're still getting used to camp, and you might just be here for another week, but I need you to focus. This is supposed to be a safe place for demigods, but it's also a place for us to learn how to be safe when we're out in the real world. This is the place where you can learn how to defend yourself, but we can't do that if you keep skipping out on lessons."

Nico frowned. "I haven't skipped anything." Nico didn't really like being around people so much, and the Hermes cabin could be overwhelming sometimes with how many people there were, but he tolerated it because it was what he'd been told to do.

Connor gave him a small smile. "I know. You're improving much faster than most of us do. You've really embraced this Greek stuff, but your willingness to work well with others could do some work."

Nico hunched his shoulders slightly and glared off to the side. "...Okay." He thought he'd been doing so well with the others. When someone talked to him he answered their questions. He did things that he was told to do. Nico hadn't even yelled at anybody when they became just a little too much. At school that was usually good enough, but not here. Apparently Nico needed to make friends too.

Bianca gave him a sympathetic look. She always said that she understood him, that she didn't like doing stuff with people either, but Nico just got frustrated when he listened to her. It wasn't that Nico didn't want to make friends, it was that he couldn't. Kids never liked to do stuff with him, and it hurt to keep on trying only to be disappointed over and over again. Bianca was the only one who stuck by him, and Nico was afraid that she only did so because she felt obligated to because they were siblings.

Connor moved his hand like he was going to pat Nico's leg, but he pulled back before he could touch him. Connor was really trying with him. Nico thought that the least he could do was try to do what he asked.

"Bianca, let's go back to the arena and get some swordwork in." Connor stood up. "Nico, stay here and heal up. We'll be back before dinner to check up on you."

"But-" Bianca looked at Nico desperately.

"No," Connor insisted. "Your brother will be fine. You need to worry about yourself right now."

Bianca scowled slightly. "Travis said the same thing."

"Great minds think alike," Connor smirked. He pulled Bianca towards him. "Come on."

"Fine," Bianca leaned towards Nico and gave him a small kiss on his forehead, right above the cut. She gently brushed his hair out of his face. "I'll see you later."

"Okay," Nico said quietly. "See you."

Bianca gave him a small smile before she followed Connor out. Will's older sister, whatever her name was, gave them a significant look. "Someone needs to watch you, but I would really like to go back to archery practice."

"I'll watch Nico." Will said cheerfully. "Go have fun."

The older girl gave them a broad grin. "Thanks." She ruffled Will's hair, grabbed her bow, and left as well. Nico and Will were alone.

Nico finally let go of Will's hand. "Sorry for making you stay here."

"I don't mind." Will said, and he really sounded like he meant it. "Archery's fun and all, but a lot of my siblings like it more than I do. Besides, I _want_ to be a healer."

"Why?" Nico asked.

"I want to help people." Will said, like it was as simple as that. "What about you? What do you want to do when you grow up?"

"I don't know." Nico said somewhat shyly. He'd never really thought about what he wanted. Sometimes his teachers used to talk to the other kids about what they could do and how they could contribute to society. There had been a lot of kids who had been interested in joining the military, and the teachers had actively encouraged that.

Nico hadn't really felt part of those conversations though. His teachers had always skipped right over him. If they did bother to bring him into the conversation, it was just to tell him that he would never do anything useful in his life and there was no point in even trying.

"Well, what do you like to do?" Will asked.

Nico shifted in his seat. "I like to play Mythomagic." He half expected the other boy to laugh at him.

"What's that?" Will asked, and he actually sounded interested.

Nico knew that telling Will about the game might turn him away, as that kind of thing had happened before. However, Nico loved to talk about Mythomagic, whether other people wanted to hear it or not.

Well, if Will was going to get annoyed and leave Nico would prefer that it happen sooner rather than later. He'd had friends leave him before, and while it always hurt it was a little less painful if they left while he was still getting to know them.

Nico started talking about Mythomagic, explaining the rules and mechanisms of the game. As he started to ramble he expected Will to tell him to shut up, but the other boy happily listened to him. He had plenty of chances to tell him to stop, but he didn't. Nico grew more confident and started talking with more enthusiasm and excitement.

Nico couldn't remember the last time someone had willingly listened to him go on and on about something. Bianca tried to humor him, but Nico could tell that she didn't really care about his game. It was nice to be talking to someone who at least pretended to be interested.

"I wish I had my cards with me." Nico finally said. "The best way to learn the game is by playing it."

"Where are your cards?" Will asked.

"Back in the cabin." Nico said.

"So we can play later." Will said cheerfully.

"You...you want to play?" Nico smiled. He rarely ever played this game with someone else.

"Yeah," Will grinned. "It sounds like fun, and I really want to play with you."

"You do?" Nico was shocked. He'd never heard anybody say that they actually wanted to play with him. He was always somebody who was just tolerated by the other kids, including his sister. The only times other kids wanted to play with him was when they were making him the butt of all their jokes.

"Yeah," Will said. "It'll be nice to be around a kid my age again."

"Oh." Nico deflated slightly. Most of the campers were teenagers. Even the younger ones were still older than Bianca. Nico and Will were years younger than everybody else. Of course the other boy just wanted someone his own age. It wasn't that he wanted to be around Nico, he just didn't have any other choice.

Nico didn't want to be anybody's last option, but it had been so long since he'd had any kind of friend. Nico liked being around Will, and he wanted to be his friend, even if Will just wanted to spend time with him because he was a convenient choice. Beggars couldn't be choosers.

"I want to play with you too." Nico said honestly. Will's broad smile was cheerful and Nico couldn't help but find his concerns eased slightly. Maybe it was a mistake to trust a boy who was probably just going to end up hurting him in one way or another, but Nico still wanted to be with Will. He wanted to trust him.

Who knows? Maybe this time will be different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had two reasons to write this particular story. One, I wanted to give more character to Bianca, since we got so little of her in the books. The second reason is because I wanted to explore Nico and Will's relationship. I think they're really adorable together, but I have one complaint of their relationship in the books. We don't really see how it starts.
> 
> Nico is feeling like an outcast at camp, he doesn't feel like anybody wants him there, and Will very passionately proclaims that he wants him there. It's absolutely adorable, but kinda comes out of nowhere. From what I remember (and I could be wrong about this) Nico and Will had very little interactions with each other before Will all but proclaimed his love for Nico. I just wanted to show the two of them actually getting to know each other before really getting together


End file.
